Even before hearing the term "antifragile" I was prone to point out that it didn't matter how efficient or inexpensive something was, if it wasn't capable of doing the job when you need it. Resiliency, plans for the worst case, etc. So. Texas. There's a lot to unpack here. Shockingly, Ars Technica actually had a decent article on the issues above and beyond the wind turbines getting locked up - about which they point out that, yes, it's possible to build heating elements into the blades and m…
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The Didact, in his excellent Memorial Day wrapup for Monday [http://didactsreach.blogspot.com/2020/05/monday-morning-with-fallen-soldier.html] , reminded me that I wanted to cover this commentary by Razorfist on Intellectual Property. The Didact notes: > I used to be a libertardian, so I had a lot of sympathy for the idea of doing away with IP rights entirely, but I was never fully convinced by the arguments against IP. Looking at the arguments given by the Razorfist, he makes a very compelli…
A While back I'd written a post on safety being important, but not the most important thing [https://thelastredoubt.com/safety-third/]. Safety has to serve repeatably getting things done, and is not an ultimate virtue in and of itself. Put another way, there is a difference between staying alive, and living. Every choice involves risks, and one of the most common causes of death is slipping in the shower or bathtub. A guy can die as a result of simply falling over in his house and hitting his h…
Over at Peter Grants blog, he links to the story of the triton submarines [https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2020/05/a-fascinating-tale-of-obsession.html] , capable of getting to the deepest parts of the world [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/18/thirty-six-thousand-feet-under-the-sea] , period. It's a fascinating read. I certainly never wanted my boat to go that deep - it would be a one-way ride.…
If you recognize the not-quite-Chris Foss image gracing this article, you've likely spent a few hours lost in a truly groundbreaking game called Homeworld - one which, a few years back, had been released in a "remastered" version that took the original game, ships, adn strategy and dressed them up with much more detailed models and texture maps. Well, it looks like a new iteration of the game is on its way. For those of you not familiar with the game, the below does a decent job of reviewing…